Seriously?? Ask you when you ask US?!? Actually the concept of the game is rather defined, and it spilled over to Red Dead Redemption as well, even though people were crying "don't call this Grand Theft Horse, or GTA in the Old West.

Rockstar defined these type of missions in realistic open world settings, and they're continuing to expand the World and characters, but the key game play elements remain fairly consistent

From my perspective, it's about freedom. Rather, the freedom to do as you wish at your own pace in the game world, not in any "Constitutional" sense. RDR's honor mechanic (or a variation of it) would have made a great addition to the game in this regard.

People have said GTA defined it's own genre, and did it so well from the outset, that if you read any gaming magazine reviews and the like, things are always compared back to GTA in what to know and expect from a game's embodiments.... or components, or core game play you can get an idea for without a hands-on.

One of the things I appreciated most over the years is hearing the Houser's thoughts on what GTA means to them!